The Island of Love (L'Île d'Amour)

France, 1928. Directors Jean Durand and Berthe Dagmar. 98min.

The stars are Xenia, the altruistic niece of an American millionaire, and Bicchi, a dashing country boy who is also the film’s proper pin-up. The directors are Gaumont’s veteran Jean Durand and his wife-collaborator Berthe Dagmar. The key attraction is a ‘Fantasy in White and Black’ featuring Dagmar who descends a staircase in a sensational multi-train costume held by a chorus of girls, evoking that of Paulette Duval in the 1923 Ziegfeld Follies. The music hall superstar Mistinguett, who was originally to appear in this act with her partner Earl Leslie, never made it to the final cut – something of a mystery given contemporary press reports and surviving photographs from the set.

With Claude France and Pierre Batcheff.
Xenia’s gowns by Mouna Katorza.

Past screenings

Birds of Paradise – London
Wednesday 8 December 2010, 18:00 | BFI Southbank, NFT2
Saturday 11 December 2010, 20:40 | BFI Southbank, NFT2
With live piano accompaniment from Neil Brand on Wednesday 8 and John Sweeney on Saturday 11.